Onlinewsma Absolutely Brilliant!

Chirphymium It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Hayden Kane There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Taha Avalos The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Robert J. Maxwell The film begins with three amigos robbing the stage. MacDonald Carey is the oldest -- a leader and bon vivant. William Holden is the younger member, soured on women. William Bendix is the comic sidekick. All three are likable rogues, not averse to being sympathetic and generous to others.Along the way, they pick up Mona Freeman, who has the role of "bobcat." She's sassy, dresses like a man, and wields a mean rifle. I kept waiting for the transformation in which she showed up in a pretty dress and appealing makeup. The transformation takes place 17 minutes and 22 seconds into the movie.During a chase by the villainous Alfonso Bedoya ("Gold Hat" in "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre") Carey is separated from the other two and strikes out as an outlaw on his own, until he tries to hold up a stagecoach carrying Holden and Bendix and guarded by Texas Rangers. MacDonald is subdued and stashed in the hoosegow, and Holden and Bendix join the Rangers, hoping to find a way to free Carey.At some points, the movie turns into the kind of recruitment story that was common during the war years, and I suppose that was the model the tale was built on. The Texas Rangers are an elite outfit who can "ride faster and shoot straighter" than anybody else. They're positively anxious to kill. The wall of Squad D is decorated with photos and pistols of the Rangers who have died in combat. The Captain who swears them in explains that he won't shake their hands until he finds out what kind of men they are. Holden and Bendix try to free their old friend but he decks both of them and gallops off into the sunset. His erstwhile companions get KP as punishment. (Is it familiar yet?) As the tale inspissates, Freeman develops a yen for the flippant Carey, despite Holden's sincere offer of marriage. I don't think I'll describe the ending.As is apparent, this isn't an outstanding Western by any means. It's full of stereotypes. Yet, as color Westerns from 1949 go, it's above average because some of the acting is quite good and the ambiguity of the relationships adds an extra dimension. I mean, yes, Carey turns into a bad guy, a murderer, but throughout, he's LIKABLE. The bond between the three men is palpable. Carey's desire to link up with the other two is genuine until it becomes clearly impossible. It's rather more than a simple good guy versus bad guy movie. In his Westerns of the 40s and 50s, Randolph Scott was always the "good guy," sometimes to the point of boredom. But this story reminds me of his best, "Ride the High Country," where we're never quite sure about the character's intentions. Adults may enjoy it more than the kids.

alexandre michel liberman (tmwest) Color made a big difference in the forties, it would become essential for most of the A westerns that would be made in the fifties. Streets of Laredo has color going for it, it also has two of the ideal actors for westerns, William Holden and Macdonald Carey. Mona Freeman has the looks, but is very stiff in her role. The famous Victor Young does the musical score and the song "Streets of Laredo" is only played by the orchestra as background music, although another song by the same name is performed by a woman. The story is the same as "The Texas Rangers"(1936), about three outlaws, two of which become by circumstances Texas Rangers. Thy go through quite a conflict of loyalties between the rangers and their outlaw friend.(MacDonald Carey). Even though I liked the 1936 version I prefer this one, mainly because of Holden and Carey, and also for the fact the colors and the action scenes are excellent. A good western that can still be watched today with great pleasure.

dougdoepke Despite slack direction from Leslie Fenton, this is a better-than-average Technicolor Western. At the time Holden was not yet a headline performer, while Carey never reached that pinnacle. Here, both contribute nicely, especially Carey whose bad-good guy with a toothy grin is just slippery enough to be convincing. The chemistry between him and Holden comes across effectively. Too bad that director Fenton doesn't do more to bring out the dramatic aspects of the friendship, though the final scene is both well-staged and appropriate. For me, the movie's highlight is the absolutely gorgeous Technicolor framing of the outdoor scenes. Somebody sure knew how to frame those scenes in an impressive way that adds greatly to the film's unusually riveting eye-appeal. The story itself is a good one. The screenplay develops Holden and Bendix's transition from outlaws to Rangers in believable fashion. What is suggested is that some outlaws can be reformed by respect and an honorable code of conduct, which strikes me as a worthwhile piece of insight and good moral to the story. On the downside, Mona Freeman as the high-spirited lass comes across as too callow and stagey for the much more mature Holden and Carey to butt heads over. Then too, Alfonso Bedoya's unlikely role looks like an effort at cashing in on his Treasure of the Sierra Madre success. In passing-- note that the classic trail song "Streets of Laredo" is not the one sung in the movie. It's a disappointing something else, probably composed for the film. I wonder if the producers had trouble getting rights to use the real song. Too bad. Anyway, the movie plays better than Leonard Maltin's rather dismal professional review, especially for those who like long views, big clouds, and a sense of open horizons.

bkoganbing Streets of Laredo is a remake of Paramount's successful Texas Rangers with William Holden, William Bendix, and Macdonald Carey playing the parts that were done thirteen years earlier by Fred MacMurray, Jack Oakie, and Lloyd Nolan. Color is added and if anything this is a remake that proved better than the original.Three amiable outlaws get separated running from a posse. Two of them Holden and Bendix join the Texas Rangers and Carey continues his outlaw ways. Carey also as the film progresses demonstrates that he's a good deal more vicious than when we first meet him.Between them they have a lot of adventures on both sides of the law. But it is inevitable that they are destined for a showdown.There's a nice performance here from Alfonso Bedoya, fresh from The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, as Calico another outlaw with a murderous protection racket.Bill Bendix though he's never bad in anything, is really miscast in a western. He's just too urban a type to be a convincing western sidekick. Holden is a year away from his breakthrough part in Sunset Boulevard, in Streets of Laredo he's in one of his 'smiling Jim' parts as the amiable good guy. He fit those parts well, but he never would have had the career he did had he stuck to them.Western fans will definitely like this one, enough action and gunplay for any fan of the genre.